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ARTICLES ABOUT CUSTOM BY DATE - PAGE 4

Though most of South Dakota's corn crop was harvested before winter, Friday found Gary Meyers in a combine west of Columbia. Only about 10 acres of corn remained, but still it needed to be harvested, said Meyers, who was working as a custom harvester for his friend Dennis Jones. The corn wasn't harvested earlier because the ground was too muddy for combines to pass through before winter arrived, Meyers said. Land across northeast South Dakota had flooding issues after heavy snowfall and rain last year.

George Hamlin's fondness for Packard automobiles reaches back to his days as a high school student in Des Moines, Iowa. "The Packard Clipper is what I drove to high school," Hamlin recalls. "Amazingly enough, it was the only Packard in the school's parking lot. " When the first Packard Clipper was introduced in April 1941, it was the widest production car on the American road. The stylish Clipper captured the approval of the motoring public. Unfortunately, production of the car ceased about nine months later, in February 1942, when the federal government halted all civilian automobile production because of World War II. Like every other automobile manufacturer, Packard then shifted into the production of war materials.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Customers of MF Global, the brokerage firm that imploded into bankruptcy last year, will meet publicly Thursday with a court-appointed official overseeing the dismantling of the company. The question still lurking behind the eighth-largest U.S. bankruptcy is what happened to the $1.2 billion that was discovered missing from customer accounts when MF Global failed Oct. 31. It is not expected to be answered Thursday in New York, when customers and other creditors can meet with James Giddens, the court-appointed trustee.

When Mary Flanigan went into Kmart before Christmas to pay for presents she had put on layaway, she got a big surprise - an anonymous donor had already paid for them. Flanigan, who lives in Warner, was one of many Kmart customers who had their bills paid for by anonymous donors. "When we went into the store, we were told a couple had come in the day before and paid for all the layaway bills that had toys on them," she said. "I said, 'You must have made a mistake,' and he said no. " Darren Corcoran, Kmart assistant manager, said about 25 anonymous donors came in to pay off layaway bills.

Burdick Brothers, a custom machining, welding and farm equipment repair company, is expanding its Redfield business. The company is adding 5,600 square feet to its facility and upgrading equipment to modernize its operation and meet customer demands. The company expects to hire four more employees within the next three years. The project is expected to be complete by February. The expansion is funded, in part, by a $168,750 Agricultural Processing and Export loan approved by the South Dakota Economic Development Finance Authority.

SIOUX FALLS -- Six consecutive times! Raven Industries is excited to announce their 49th place position on the Forbes America's Best Small Companies. This great honor is based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity over the past 12 months and the past five years. Raven's stock performance versus its peers was another key factor. Check out the list for yourself at http://www.forbes.com. "It is an honor to be recognized by Forbes on such a consistent basis. We strive to be one of the best companies in America, and I believe our culture of service, innovation, quality, and peak performance sets Raven apart.

An email scam requesting personal information from customers has been reported to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission by AT&T officials. The email appears to originate from AT&T and prompts the user to provide account and credit card information. The Public Utilities Commission urges citizens to avoid providing information to sources of which they are unsure. AT&T customers targeted by this scam should send a copy of the email to the company at abuse@att.net . or call AT&T at 800-332-1782.

It's all about relationships. Why else would you travel more than 7,000 miles to learn about customers? According to a Claremont woman who is on the state soybean board, farmers need to learn what customers in China and Vietnam want in the soybeans and/or the soybean meal they import from the United States. “In addition to knowing who the people in those countries are, we need to explain to them why the quality of our product is better quality than those from other countries,” Monica McCranie said.

SCOTLAND - Twenty people gathered in the basement of the Scotland city hall on Monday night to get some answers from company representatives and state utility regulators about NorthWestern Energy's request to raise its rates for natural gas customers in South Dakota. In May, the company asked the state Public Utilities Commission for approval of a 7.2 percent rate increase that would total about $4.1 million annually. The company estimates that residential customers would pay an average of $8.31 more per month.

When Keith Randall was a young lieutenant in the United States Air Force stationed in Oklahoma for pilot training, he saw a 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and was immediately smitten. Initially, the Monte Carlo was developed as Chevrolet's counterpoint to the Pontiac Grand Prix and was marketed as a personal luxury vehicle. Appealing to Randall was the new exterior styling feature that concealed the windshield wipers. On the instrument panel inside was a photographic reproduction of the Elm wood-trim used by Rolls-Royce.